Many mechanical devices have compression stages for compressing fluids such as water, air, fuel, etc. to produce work or to transport the fluid. For example, a wide variety of pumps for many different fluids have compression stages. In many conventional pumps, the compression stage is provided by a linearly reciprocating piston-cylinder mechanism. Also, many water and air compressors operate in a similar way. Additionally, conventional internal combustion engines have a compression stage to compress the fuel before igniting it, which provides significantly improved efficiencies. Furthermore, many vacuum or suction devices have intake or suction stages that are provided by linearly reciprocating piston-cylinder mechanisms, with the intake or suction stages during expansion of the interior space instead during compression.
While currently available linear and rotary compression and pumping devices are more efficient than those of years ago, they still are not highly efficient. Accordingly, there is a need for a high performance device that can be used for compressing and/or transporting water, air, fuels, or other fluids in pumps, compressors, vacuum devices, engines, and the like, and that is reliable and cost-effective to build, operate, and maintain. It is primarily to the provision of such a device that the present invention is directed.